Ingredients
Method
Starting the Day Before:
- Remove giblets and neck from the turkey and save for another use, or discard. Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water and shake dry. Place on a large baking sheet.
- Remove stem from chiles and mince them with a sharp knife into very small pieces, removing as many seeds as you'd like to make it less spicy. Combine chiles with garlic and salt in a small bowl.
- Season turkey inside and out on all sides with the chile mixture then refrigerate turkey, uncovered, for at least 12 hours.
The Next Day:
- Remove turkey from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Don't rinse, brush breast, legs, and thighs with oil.
- For a charcoal grill, light charcoal and wait until the briquets are all lit and well ashened then arrange in a half circle on one side of the grill. Fill the medium-sized pan with warm water and place in the middle of the coals as a drip pan. You want to maintain a grill temperature of between 350°F-400°F, attaching a grill thermometer to the vent holes is helpful.
- Place one large foil pan inside another then combine celery, onion, and carrot, marjoram, and bay leaves in the top pan. Add 2 cups of broth. Place turkey, breast-side down in the pan.
- Sprinkle one handful of the drained, soaked chips directly over the hot coals or to the smoker box of a gas grill. Place the cooking grate one the coals and place the pan with the turkey directly over the pan of water on the bottom with the legs facing the hottest part of the grill.
- Cover grill and monitor the temperature, adding more charcoal as needed.
- Smoke turkey 1 hour, then flip so it is breast-side up. Add 12-15 briquettes to the coals and sprinkle remaining wood chips over charcoal. Continue smoke-roasting until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 170°F.
- To fully cook the turkey can take anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on the size of the bird and how hot you maintain the grill, figure roughly about 15-20 minutes per pound if the grill stays between 350°F-400°F. After 1 1/2 hours check to see if any parts are getting to dark, like the wing tips or the ends of the drumsticks, if so, cover them with foil.
- Once completely cooked, remove roasting pans with turkey from the grill. Transfer turkey to a cutting board and let rest 30 minutes. Save pan with veggies and drippings for the gravy.
To Make the Gravy:
- Strain contents of the pan into a bowl, pressing on the veggies to extract as much juice as possible. Pour the drippings into a fat-separator if you have one, if not just leave it in the bowl and let it sit a few minutes to allow the fat to rise to the top.
- Spoon fat into a measuring cup, you should have 1/2 cup; add olive oil, or melted butter to make up the difference if you don't have enough. Measure remaining liquid, you should have 3 cups, add more chicken broth as needed. Remove stem from chile and mince as you did above.
- Pour fat into a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan and place over medium heat. Whisk in flour and let cook, whisking constantly until toasted and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Whisk in minced chile and thyme and let toast 1 minute more.
- Slowly whisk in wine then measured broth, pouring in a little at a time, whisking continuously, until all is added. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat and let cook a couple minutes, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
- Carve turkey and serve immediately with hot gravy.
